Show Stopper
by Name Forbidden
Summary: Eren is busy with rehearsals for this year's acting performance though he is struggling to pass his dance classes, and it seems that his dance teacher, Levi, is purposefully trying to get in the way of his theatrical success!


The end of the school day had drawn to a close, the halls were more or less empty though the building itself was far from quiet; though it was notably quieter than it usually was during school hours. Many of the school's students had left to head home, though a fair few stayed behind for rehearsals in their chosen media, or to simply spend some time making up for lost study hours. 2pm – an earlier school ending time than most, the hours slightly more irregular due to this particular school being one for the arts – though classes had ended all the same, and at present, the second year students taking their three yearlong performance arts course had all gathered in the auditorium.

Each year, the performance arts class had to organize and perform a theatrical production in which they would all be graded on when the final performance rolled around. Last year they had made a show of Chicago and it had gone fairly well despite all of the first year nerves getting in the way of things. The majority of the class had passed with flying colours – naturals at the whole performance thing – though a handful of students had been dropped, having messed up on their lines, missed their marks or blanked right in the middle of the show. One of the classes' top actors was Eren. He had a real taste for all things theatrical and new had to put on a good show each time; he had real natural talent for melodrama and was able to push through any nerves that he felt so that he could deliver each and every time.

Eren was currently sitting at the side of the stage, one leg swinging over the edge as he waited to be handed the threaded stack of papers which would be the script for this year's performance – and each students lines would be ready marked to save time and effort, and to avoid any conflicts about casting roles. As the scripts were being handed out one by one, Eren could hear a fair few squeals of excitement as well as grumbles and groans, and his curiosity grew before he was finally handed his own script.

The title across the front page simply read 'Moulin Rouge!', and a slight grin set Eren's lips in response. He had seen the movie – poorly casted as it was – when he was younger, and after seeing the performance live a few times, the tragic love story filled with badly covered pop tunes soon grew on him and he had come to love it. Flicking through the first couple of pages, Eren noticed that he sure had his work cut out for him this time around. All of the dialog marked out belonged to the leading character – Christian – meaning that Eren was set to play that role. A clumsy British writer with a lack of success in both his career and in love, in his mind, Eren could already see himself rehearsing.

"Hey sister, go sister, soul sister, flow sister~" The tune came from the side entrance to the auditorium and the person who's voice it belonged to was easily recognizable. A little out of tune, yet fun and carefree, that voice didn't belong to any sort of musical performer. A theatrical one, maybe, though not one suited for a musical quite like Moulin Rouge; and as a result, small bursts of giggles and low whispers broke out among the class. The voice belonged to one Hanji Zoe, theatre history teacher and costume designer for any performances put on each year. She was a comedian through self-title, though very few of her jokes had all that affect – most just thought her weird and a little off beat – though her lessons were interesting, so it made sitting though her terrible jokes worthwhile.

As she approached the class, she unwound the tape measure she carried in with her and set down her pocket note pad and pen. Costume measurements, it was that time again when Hanji began to make everyone feel a little more uncomfortable than normal – she had a habit of taking her sweet time taking down measurements, and she would also mutter under her breath about the girls' busts or the boys' fat to muscle ratios.

Hanji cleared her throat, "Can the two leading ladies walk this way please- oh, and whoever is playing the Duke too, I'll start with your three costumes for now." She announced, adjusting her glasses a little as she eyed up whoever rose from their position on stage.

Eren pushed himself to his feet, taking a quick glance around to see who he'd be paired with this coming performance. Jean rose, a sour look on his face as he caught sight of Eren – he always lost out on the lead roles to Eren and it frustrated him to no end – especially when the leading actress to be was someone as pretty as Christa. The blond and dainty Christa had been cast as Satine, a role that didn't look very fitting at all on the surface, though with her skill in adapting to character personalities, it was actually a very wise casting choice.

The three of them took their place, ready to be measured, and endured the entire process with a look of discomfort on all of their faces. As it was happening, Eren and Christa engaged in some fairly small conversation – completely excluding Jean, who was still sulking and giving the two of them side long glances of envy.

"Eren, please don't fall in love with me during this performance, okay?" Christa said rather jokingly, her feather light tone matching effortless with the tiny smile that graced her flawless pale lips as they curved up into a smile. As if Eren would, he made little secret that he didn't quite swing that way in the first place – and even if he did, he wouldn't be so careless as to chase after Christa, as she had a very possessive woman of her own that would fight tooth and nail to keep any stray dogs away.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." Eren replied, his own tone of voice joking and friendly, and was accompanied by a brief roll of his eyes as if to show that the warning was not taken all too seriously – though the unspoken warning behind them was carefully noted down mentally.

Once done, Eren grabbed his script from where he'd left it before shoving it into his backpack and heading for the doors to exit the auditorium. He turned on his heel just before exiting, sucked in a breath and belted out a quick tune in between all of the 'goodbye's and 'see you tomorrow's, "Come what may..!" He then turned and broke into a light jog as he headed to the school's main doors, leaving behind the slight echoes of playful cheers and applauds at his casual dramatic exit.


End file.
